


Multiplayer Mode

by Whadup_5



Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Swearing, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whadup_5/pseuds/Whadup_5
Summary: My name is Rika Aishi, and I'm trapped in a time loop. Why this is happening I still don't know, but I do know one thing; it revolves around my big sister. She has fallen in love with one of our upperclassmen, but she can't bring herself to tell him her feelings. Other girls want this boy too but, if they win, time resets back to April 8th. Only two other people are aware of the time loops, and neither of us are going to stand it any longer.He will be hers. He never had a choice.
Relationships: Ayano Aishi | Yandere-chan/Taro Yamada | Senpai, Kokona Haruka/Riku Soma
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

Sunday, April 8th.

She couldn't help but sigh, a few tears pricking the corners of her eyes, as she gently ran the cloth over the long knife in her hands. The particular one was on its way to becoming a family heirloom, having been hand crafted by her grandmother, and was given to her-as far as this loop was concerned- recently by her mother. The long thin blade carried the innocence of a regular kitchen knife, the only thing special about it being her surname carved into it, but she knew better at this point. She had remembered how hard her mother had stressed for her to be careful with the blade. How, "someone could really get hurt with a knife that sharp."

She wondered how many lives were ended by this knife.

She had begun to wonder about a lot of aspects about her life as of late. Like, for example, she wondered why she even liked collecting knives. While the other children were begging for the latest toys, dresses, and treats for their birthdays, she would ask for a knife she had seen online. Her mother was more than happy to fulfill her desires, but her father, in one of his rare instances of growing a spine, forbade it, citing that a girl her age should not be interested in such dangerous weapons. In hindsight, she understood why he was so against it.

Still, every year on her birthday, her mother would lightly step into her room early in the morning and surprise her with a beautifully carved knife along with several accessories to go with it. In her excitement and thankfulness for such a gift, she would completely miss the sinister look in her mother's eyes.

"Our little secret," is what her mother always said with a smile that she now knew was the smile of a murder.

She snapped to attention when she realized that she had gotten lost in her thoughts. She looked up at the clock.

7:45 am, with only seconds to spare before 7:46.

"Three...two...one."

On cue, there was a knock on her door, followed by her sister's voice that she perfectly mouthed along to. "Rika, can I come in?"

Sighing, Rika put down her rag before putting the knife in its leather holder and putting it back where it was normally displayed in a large indented square in her wall along with several other different knives. Seeing that everything was in place, she picked up a painting of a landscape that had been set to the side and hung back onto the wall, completely concealing the knives.

"Our little secret," she whispered.

She took a deep breath in, exhaled, and smiled as she donned her mask of innocence and called back, "come in!"

The door opened and Ayano stepped in, still wearing the blue pajamas that Rika had in a pale pink, which she was still wearing now. Turning fully to her sister, Rika was quick to notice the fact that Ayano had her hands hidden behind her back. A long time ago, Rika wouldn't have batted an eye to the hand placement. Now, however, she knew for a fact that her sister was trying to hide a knife behind her back.

'So, she was either going to kill me, or threaten me this time,' Rika thought, but kept up her oblivious smile as what came out was a cheerful, "did you need something?"

Ayano looked at her with a neutral expression, but her eyes did narrow a bit as she spoke with a slow and calculating tone.

"Do you have a crush on a boy named _Yamada_ _Taro_?"

Rika tilted her head, her brows knit in a faux confusion. "Taro? Didn't I tell you that I have a crush on Hayato?"

Ayano blinked, giving one of the rare instances where Rika saw genuine confusion on her sister's face.

"Mitsumeru Hayato?" Ayano asked for confirmation.

Rika nodded, looking away while smiling warmly as she clasped her hands over her chest. "Yeah...I... never really realized until recently how much he means to me. I heard him once say that he plans to transfer to Akademi High and, when that happens, I want to confess my feelings to him under the sakura tree behind the school."

Rika looked up at Ayano, a strong resolve in her eyes. "Until then, I'm going to wait for him, and I refuse to let any other boy have my heart."

Ayano put on a smile that Rika could tell had sinister undertones.

"I'm sure that he'll love you back," she said warmly, placing a hand on Rika's shoulder.

"Thanks, sis."

Rika then clapped her hands together and started toward the door. "Anyway, I should start breakfast! I have a really busy day ahead!"

After a delicious breakfast had been made and eaten, Rika got herself ready for the day. She decided on a simple long sleeve pink shirt and long black skirt paired with pink slip-ons for her attire. She didn't bother doing anything with her hair, as that would be taken care of soon enough. After fastening her ankle knife holsters, she slipped on her white leg warmers to complete her look. Grabbing her black handbag, she said goodbye to Ayano and headed out to town.

Since she still had some time, she decided to get her hair cut first. The hair salon clerk, as sweet as ever, cut most of her hair to her shoulders while leaving plenty left of her long hair near her face. Then, at Rika's request, she divided each side of the long hair in half and tied it up on the side of her head. Topped off with a pink ribbon and her style was officially returned to her. After paying and thanking the clerk, she had just enough time to get to the train station, so she headed off.

As Rika ran, she passed by Kokona Haruka, who didn't look as enthusiastic as she did. Kokona groaned loudly as she slowly trudged toward her home. The several bags of groceries in her hands felt as if they were going to tear her arms off with their weight. Still, she persisted. With her father in his ongoing state of depression due to those damned loan sharks, it fell on her to do groceries and make the meals in her house with any money that her father wasn't giving to those loan sharks or spending on booze. With those thoughts once again filling her mind, she summoned as much strength as determination as she could to pick her pace up to a light jog. She hopped that shortening the distance as much as possible would make the distance easier once she lost her momentum.

Just as Kokona was about to turn a corner, she froze. She had stopped just in time as Taro came around the corner, nearly bumping into her before he stopped himself.

Eyes widening, Taro gave a bow of his head and a quick, "sorry," before stepping out of the way.

Kokona returned the bow with one of her own, giving a quiet, "it's fine," before returning to her light jog.

Taro scratched his head as he watched her go. Those bags that girl was carrying looked heavy, and he would have offered to help if the girl hadn't already made a good distance between them.

'Oh well,' he thought as he continued walking. But, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

* * *

"Haruka!"

Kokona stopped to look behind her at the sound of her name. She was surprised to see Riku of all people waving as he tried to catch up to her. Still, it wasn't an unwelcomed encounter, and she smiled as he approached.

"Oh! Hello, Soma!"

Riku blinked in surprise as he stopped before her. "You...know my name?"

Kokona's eyes widened before a strong blush came to her cheeks. Giggling, she scratched her cheek with her finger, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Oh, well, I was actually thinking about leaving the cooking club to join the drama club, so I thought I'd be appropriate to learn all of your names."

Riku tried, and failed, to hide the large amount of excitement pouring out of him. "That's great! The drama club would love to have you!"

Realizing just how desperate his excitement was starting to sound, he quickly subdued himself and scratched the back of his head.

"I-If you don't mind Kizana being a little...much sometimes."

Kokona just giggled again, causing Riku's blush to grow stronger from the sweet sound.

Kokona suddenly cut herself off as a realization hit her. "Oh! I almost forgot! Is there something that you needed?"

"Yes, actually-!" Riku cleared his throat and continued more calmly.

"I was...it's...um...just that...It's just that I saw how heavy those bags you're carrying looked, and I was wondering if you needed any help carrying them?"

The warm smile Kokona gave him made Riku's heart skip a beat. "That's so sweet of you, Soma! If you're really not busy I'd be really grateful to have your help."

"I'd love nothing more than to help!"

Giggling, Kokona handed him the bags in her left hand. "Okay, here, you can carry these. They're both equally heavy, so we can share the load equally."

Nodding, Riku took the bags and gave a salute. "Alright! Lead the way, Haruka."

Grinning, Kokona turned and led Riku toward her home. "Okay! And, please, call me Kokona."

Riku's blush came back stronger than ever, and he nearly tripped over himself. "A-alright, Kokona," he said before quickly adding, "and you can call me Riku so that it's fair."

Kokona giggled again. "Alright."

* * *

When the doors had opened after the train had made its stop, Rika easily spotted a particular girl that she was looking for. White sneakers touched down on the platform as a girl wearing a blue, off shoulder sweater over a blank tank top and skirt tugged at her long white socks. While her light blue hair and eyes didn't stick out as uncommon, the headband with hanging blue plugs attached to it did.

"Elegy!" Rika cried as she ran toward her friend.

Letting go of the handle to her red suitcase, Elegy smiled as she happily accepted the hug. The two gave each other a tight squeeze before Rika pulled away. Grabbing Elegy's wrist while Elegy grabbed her bag handle, Rika quickly pulled the two toward home.

"Common, there's no time to waste!"

* * *

This was certainly not what Haruto Aishi had in mind when he was to go on a vacation to America. If there was anyone to ask, he would tell them that he envisioned any kind of vacation to be a family one. One where they could probably visit an amusement park, and he could pretend that his life didn't peak in middle school before becoming a downward spiral full of regret that took on new forms every year.

Don't get him wrong, he loved his daughters with all his heart, but the blood that they were born from was not worth it in his mind. Especially when, despite his best efforts, there just seemed to be something _wrong_ with both of his daughters. Rika's weird obsession with knives, the strange look in Ayano's eyes that he sometimes caught when she thought he wasn't looking, all of which were traits that he saw in who had initially been his childhood friend's classmate before…

He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew it into the night air, imagining the disappearing smoke as the memories that he repeatedly forced himself to forget.

So, here he was now. Standing at the room's balcony of the second hotel his 'beloved wife' had dragged him to since they got to the country as he had another cigarette. Ryoba had been very clear that he couldn't go anywhere outside of this hotel room without her permission. A permission that was, so far, only granted if it was with her and involved meals, or if it was to get in the car to drive for another God knows how long. Other than that, he just spends most of the day sleeping, smoking, or watching tv.

"Darling, I'm back!" said the voice that belonged to his living hell as the hotel door opened.

Putting out his cigarette, Haruto turned to Ryoba and forced as close to a smile as he could onto his face as they embraced each other.

"Welcome back, dear."

* * *

Rika had paused in cutting up the vegetables she was going to use for dinner in order to stare at the phone. Any minute now…

Even though she was looking right at it, the sound of it ringing had nearly made her jump right out of her skin. While every fiber of her being wanted to immediately pick up the phone, she let it go through two rings before she reached for it and picked it up.

"Mom? Dad?" she asked before mentally kicking herself.

"Rika?" Ryoba's voice said through the phone. "How'd you know that it was us?"

Rika's face twisted up in silent pain at the sound of Ryoba's voice. She gripped the phone tighter, only loosening her grip after taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Um...well, when you miss someone so much, you just kind of hope that it's them when you answer the phone…"

"Aw!" Ryoba cooed, "we miss you two, honey!"

Rika briefly held the phone away from her face to sigh in relief. When she brought it back to her, she figured she'd get to what she wanted to say.

"Mom, Dad, I know that this is last minute, but would you mind if a friend stayed with us?"

Haruto's eyes widened, and he felt his heart stop as he forced another smile when Ryoba shot a smirk at him.

"Ooo, a friend? Is it a boy~?" she asked, a bit of hope hidden under her teasing tone.

Rika rolled her eyes. "No, mom, it's a girl. Her name is Kouki Elegy. She's new in town and she needs a place to stay. Would you mind if it was here?"

Haruto let out the quietest sigh possible while Ryoba pouted. As Rika had expected, her father agreed to the arrangement -likely becuase Elegy wasn't being held against her will- and her mother agreed only because her father had agreed. Whatever the reason was, she didn't care as long as she got her desired answer.

The rest of the conversation went as Rika had basically memorized at this point. Talking about how school has been for the her and Ayano until Ayano jumped in to talk about how she has a crush on someone. At that point Rika, if she was still alive at that point, would check out of the conversation in order to finish making dinner until Ayano hung up after their parents had loudly said goodbye through the phone.

Rika remembered a time when she broke that cycle...

_"Mom, dad, when are you coming home?"_

_"Aw, do you really miss us that much, honey?"_

_"...yes…"_

_"Well, don't worry. The moment I finish up my business here we'll hop on the first plane home. You'll see us soon enough."_

"Rika, are you okay?"

Rika snapped out of her thoughts to look at a worried Elegy. Rika blinked, suddenly realizing that she was crying when she felt the tears that had pooled her eyes run down her cheeks. Quickly wiping at her eyes, Rika smiled at her friend.

"I'm fine, Elegy. I was just thinking about a previous loop."

That only seemed to make Elegy's worry worse. "You're sure that everything is planned out? I don't want to see you upset if-" she stopped herself, letting the sentence die away.

Rika wasn't even fazed. Instead, her smile turned into a more determined one as she continued cutting the vegetables.

"Trust me, Elegy. We have everything planned to a T. We're getting out of this time loop once and for all."

* * *

Ayano had just finished buttoning up her pajama shirt when she heard a knock at her door. Before she could answer, Rika pushed it open and stepped in, followed by Elegy, and Ayano was quick to notice something off about her sister. The Rika she grew up with was too meek to ever barge into her room, and especially would never glare at her with such suppressed fury. Something was off.

"Sis, we need to talk."

"What about?"

"You have a crush on a boy named Taro, correct?"

Ayano raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Yes?"

Ayano was surprised once more when Rika rather forcefully grabbed her arms. Wincing a bit as Rika dug her nails through Ayano's pajama sleeves and into her skin.

"We're going to help you win his heart. Other girls are going to want him, and we're not going to let that happen."

Ayano was about to react to the mention of someone else wanting her Taro, but Rika kept talking.

"But, in order for the plan we thought of to work, you must do exactly what we say, when we say it. Understand?"

Ayano's initial response was to stare with wide eyes at her younger sister. Sure, Rika had been acting a bit different today, but this seemed like a whole different personality had been swapped out with her sister's. Still, her confusion over her sister's behavior was outweighed by her love for Taro, and her desire to make sure that he would be hers. And since her sister clearly had a plan to make that happen-

Frowning, Ayano nodded with a fierce stare. "What do you need me to do?"

* * *

***: Is everything ready? Does everyone know where they have to be and what they have to do?

###: I'm ready.

Me: I am too. Let's end this once and for all.

***: Is Ayano in on the plan?

Me: Yes. I told her who you two are, explained why we can never interact at school, and made her promise that she'll do whatever we say. She agreed as long as she gets Taro in the end, and none of us make any moves on him.

###: Like any of us would want him after knowing how crazy your sister is.

Me: Honestly.

***: Focus, everyone! We have a time loop to escape!

Me: You're right. Let's head to bed. We have a long week ahead of us.

###: Goodnight.

***: Night!

Rika set her phone down on her nightstand and adjusted herself under the covers. She briefly looked to the floor where Elegy was sleeping on a mat in her white nightgown, hugging her pillow while her blanket only covered half her body.

This would be the last April 8th she'd have to go through with this year, she was sure of it. She ran the plan through her mind countless times, looking for any flaw that would keep her in this loop. Eventually, near midnight, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, knowing that staying up any longer would only hurt the plan rather than help it.


	2. Week 0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief look into how Taro placed a target on his own head.

Taro had started to make a habit out of letting his thoughts roam to whatever topic of his pleasing when he walked to school. Today, his mind drifted back to the first day of class, where his life supposedly changed forever. 

After two years of being at Akademi High, Taro Yamada was ready for some excitement. Despite the negative reputation the school had gotten because of _that_ incident many years ago, nothing really happened at Akademi. Students would go to school, learn, eat lunch, learn more, clean the school, then either go to their clubs or go home. For the two years that he’s been going to high school, there was nothing that warranted the negative stigma. As far as he knew, everyone who went to Akademi High lived normal lives, and had the guaranteed benefit of working at Saikou Corp if one chose to, which offered some of the highest paying jobs in all of Japan. 

Still, even with the promised job security, Taro still wanted a bit more out of his high school experience. He was nothing special, just an average looking dude who hasn’t even kissed a girl yet. And he was in his third year! He was tired of the mundane and had decided on his first day that if excitement wasn’t going to come to him, he’d bring on the excitement himself. 

He had heard a rumor in his second year at Akademi about “The Protagonist Seat”, which was conveniently in his homeroom this year. The second seat from the back on the left side of the classroom alongside the window. It was said that whoever was unlucky enough to have to sit there would go through an adventure that rivaled an anime storyline. Now, what kind of anime-esque story one would go through was said to be like rolling a dice. 

There were whispers about a boy who had sat in that seat once and had gotten kidnapped like in a horror anime. Some talked about how a girl who sat there once became a teenage assassin. Some even swore on their lives that the girl who sat in the seat last year was now a magical girl. 

Now, Taro knew that he wasn’t suddenly going to be hit by a truck and transported into some fantasy world where he’d basically be a god, but he did at least hope for something interesting. So, to the stares and gasps of his classmates, he sat in the fabled “Protagonist Seat”. Now, there were plenty of seats that allowed for there to be one extra seat open, and many had brought that up when they had urged him to sit somewhere else. But he assured them that he would be fine, and that he was looking for a bit of adventure. Even though his classmates still spared him a worried glance or two throughout the day, he wasn’t worried all that much. He didn’t think anything truly bad could happen at boring old Akademi High. 

Though the doubt was strong during the first week, he eventually had to admit that the magic of the seat had some legitimacy to it. Somehow, he had busted out into a full on, unrehearsed, rap battle with Budo Matsuda just last week, which he only questioned after he had gotten home that day. Maybe sitting in that seat actually worked, and that this year was actually going to be interesting. Maybe that meant that his ‘anime’ was going to be music based. Maybe he would actually get hit by that truck and become an undead music star. 

Just fun things to muse about as he walked toward school. 

“Senpai!” 

Taro stopped walking and turned to look behind him, surprised to see three girls running in his direction. He briefly looked forward before looking back in confusion when there was no one else around besides himself that those girls could be running toward. 

‘ _Is my life going to be a harem anime?_ ’ he thought. 

The three girls stopped in front of them. They certainly _looked_ like good candidates for a harem anime. There was the proud standing girl who greeted him with an enthusiastic smile, the girl wearing a plug headband that looked completely uninterested with him, and the girl hiding shyly behind the first two. 

The proud girl spoke up. “My name is Aishi Rika, from class 1-1!” 

She motioned to the plug girl, “This is Kouki Elegy. She'll be in class 1-2,” before finally motioning past the both of them to the shy girl. “And this is my sister, Aishi Ayano, from class 2-1.” 

Taro gave them all a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Yamada Taro, and I’m from class 3-2.” 

Rika giggled. “So, senpai, this may sound a little forward, but I was wondering if we could all be friends?"

Taro was taken aback by the straightforward question. He hadn’t really had a friend, let alone friends, since middle school; aside from the classmates he occasionally talked to or hung out with as a group. Was this to be his adventure? Making friends with three cute girls and getting into slice of life hijinks as they made their way through school? No better way to find out than to see where this train ride would take him. It certainly wasn't any high-stake fantasy adventure, but I'd hopefully be a step up from the norm. 

“Sure! I’d like that!” 


	3. Week 0: Monday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We got a week to prepare. There's no time to waste!

The Info Club, located on the northern wing of the third floor, where the supposed student with extreme agoraphobia resided. The room was the only one in the entire school to have thick curtains hung over the doors and windows. Anyone who looked inside would only be able to see basic shapes generously illuminated by the many monitors that were partially blocked by the silhouette of a person. 

_"From what I heard, the Info Club actually used to be a real club," Rika had explained. "It was a club for amateur investigative journalism that also made a school newspaper for events and announcements. After last year, when the last few members graduated, the club was shut down. The only reason that sign is still up is because Info-Chan 'thinks it's funny, all things considered'."_

The door was never seen opened since the student had started attending school. Apparently, the supposed student would come to school hours earlier than anyone, even the headmaster, and would stay in that room until everyone had gone home for the day. It had led some to believe that there wasn't any student at all, some of the more twisted students believing that it was just a dead body propped up to appear alive. Whatever the students wanted to believe, many were collectively jealous that the supposed student didn't have to participate in physical education or cleaning time. There was an incident where one of the more 'hot-headed' students had demanded that the supposed student help out if they were going to attend the school, but the door was locked tight, and any attempt at forced entry lead to a suspension. 

On this morning, though, the door opened just enough to slide a small box with a note taped on it through before slamming back shut. Ayano picked up the box. She once again made sure that there wasn't a soul around her before turning her back to the ceiling camera and opening it. The inside was packed full of tiny recording devices with adhesive backs to stick to any surface. Just as she shut the box again to look at the note, she felt her phone buzz. 

_Info-Chan: The note will tell you where to place the bugs._

_Me: Is that your camera outside the room?_

_Info-Chan: No, but I've already taken care of that. Don't worry. ;-)_

Ayano's frown remained neutral as she pocketed her phone and walked away. She really didn't like this 'Info-Chan' person. It was only because Rika had convinced her that Info-Chan was a necessary asset to be with her Taro that she tolerated this alliance. 

* * *

From what Taro could tell so far, he had made a good choice in befriending these three girls. 

Even though there seemed to be an energy radiating off of Elegy that would signal most to back away, she was very polite and thankful to him for giving her a tour around the school. Rika balanced out Elegy's negative energy by being sunshine's incarnate. Always a smile on her face, and even politely giggling when he attempted to make a joke. Though Ayano was incredibly shy, she was an exceptionally good listener. It seemed like he had her complete and total attention whenever he spoke, and she would hang on every word he said like he was the smartest person in the world. 

He had to admit that it gave him a bit of an ego boost to talk more, which was good because they also seemed to have much in common. Rika was aspiring to be a chef but was really interested in acting. Though he didn't really know much about technology, and was neutral about video games, which seemed to be Elegy's specialty, her concerningly passionate view on justice was something to admire. Ayano...well... 

Well...even after all four of them had spent most of the morning talking, he still didn't know a thing about her. She seemed much more content in letting him talk rather than saying a word about her own interests. He just figured that it was a combination of them just meeting, alongside her existing shyness, that was keeping her from saying much. 

Which is why Taro had made a secret vow to help get Ayano more comfortable with him. After all, she seemed like such a nice girl, and he was curious as to what else there was to her. 

* * *

"Everyone, this is Kouki Elegy. She is new to Akademi High, and I expect all of you to show her why we are a high prestige school," the teacher announced once class time had begun. 

After writing the characters to her name on the board, Elegy turned to face the class. As she had expected, there were mixed reactions. Some waved at her, others gave her a confused/suspicious look, the colorful chick in the back was looking ready to burst out laughing, and there were those that just kept their heads down. She didn't give any of a care to their reactions, though, and just sat down in the back where the teacher had told her, next to the colorful chick and the boy with his head down. 

Class was quick to start, and most of the students were quick to give the teacher their attention alongside taking notes. Those that didn't were either playing on their phone or sleeping, which the teacher didn't care about as long as they were doing it without disturbing the other students. 

Then there was the colorful chick, Kokoro Momoiro, who took advantage of the teacher turning to write on the board to lean over to Elegy. 

"Those plugs made you look like a loser!" she whispered, smiling smugly.

"And your hair makes you look like a slut," Elegy whispered back, never taking her eyes away from the board as she wrote down her notes. 

Kokoro's face fell into shock. That shock was quickly replaced by anger, and Kokoro glared at Elegy, who still hadn't spared her a single glance. 

_'Is that how you want to play, bitch? Fine. Let's play.'_

* * *

As flattered as Shin Higaku was to be considered trusted enough by Oka to run the Occult Club in her absence, he hated the responsibility that came with the club. As someone who was introverted and would rather be left alone most days, he hated being the one that students would potentially have to go to about the club. He was lucky that, so far, no one had approached him yet, but he dreaded any potential conversations to come. 

Since it was lunch time, he had decided, once again, to spend the time allowed in the club room alongside the rest of the members. The atmosphere of the room felt like a second home to him. A sanctuary that he got to share with his fellows in the occult. 

Just as he was finishing up his lunch, he looked up to see someone enter by slamming the door open. He had to do a double take when he realized that it was Rika. When just last Friday she wore just the base uniform, letting her long hair cover half her face, she looked like a completely different girl standing before them now. 

Her appearance wasn't the only thing different about Rika. Those in the room were surprised to see how downright disgusted Rika looked as she stared at all of them. It was as if the foulest smell imaginable had plagued the room and only she could smell it. She walked up to Shin, her glare zeroing in on him and causing him to look away. 

"Rika...are-are you alright?" 

The sigh she let out made him shrink a little. "I'm fine," she replied coldly, "I'm just here to quit the club." 

His eyes shot open, the shock overpowering his fear as he looked up at her. His eyes were met with a black choker, the main identifier that one was in the Occult Club, being shoved in his face. Before he could say anything, Rika dropped the choker, which he luckily caught, and turned to leave. As she stood in the doorway, she turned back to the room's occupants. 

"Oh, by the way, I borrowed this from Oka. Give it back to her for me, would you?" She pulled out a thick book from her bag and carelessly tossed it over her shoulder. It bounced once before resting on the ground on its pages, Shin only going to retrieve it after Rika had walked away. Luckily it wasn't damaged, though a few of the pages had been bent. 

The members of the Occult Club stood there staring at door in silence for a time, split between being too shocked to answer and too afraid to break the delicate .silence. Finally, after a time, Supana Churu stood up from her corner chair and spoke. 

"Why would Rika want to leave the club?" 

Following Supana's bravery, Daku Atsu replied. "I don't know, but something seemed off about her aura." 

That was something that they could all agree to. 

* * *

It was the end of the day. Cleaning time was over, and the time for clubs was just about to start. As she stood outside the room to the Drama Club, she took a deep breath in, then let it out. She only had one chance to do this. 

In a swift motion, Rika threw the door to the Drama Cub open. Taking a step inside she proudly declared, "My name is Aishi Rika, and I demand to join your club! The stage cries for me, and I refuse to not heed its call!" 

The drama club members, who had gathered in a circle to prepare to leave for the gymnasium, fell silent as they stared at her in surprise. That was until Tsuruzo Yamazaki, the first to snap away from the group shock, grinned at Rika as he made a dramatic pose. 

"Love the energy, my dear! Welcome to the Drama Club!" 

* * *

"I'm home!" Taro called as he walked through the front door. 

Immediately he was greeted by a woman who gave him a welcoming smile. This woman, Mio Yamada, very clearly was the origin to all the looks in the family. A tall, slightly curvy woman with silky black hair tied off into a side ponytail. Despite her fifties approaching, many would mistake her for being in her late twenties, with not a single sign that old age had touched her. Though she dressed plain now, wearing a simple white apron over her pale-yellow shirt and blue jeans, Taro remembered the many occasions where his mother stole the spotlight when she wore one of her many fancy dresses. 

The opposite to this sat on the couch, reading a newspaper with his back to the door; Youta Yamada. Anyone who had taken a good look at him would question how exactly Mio had ended up with him. The man had, sadly, been given the short end of the stick in terms of aging. The many wrinkles on his face accompanied the hairline that was already making its way toward nonexistence. The man wore glasses so thick that many weren't able to tell what his eye color even was, only able to make educated guesses based on his children. The man wore a dress shirt and pants, a tie hanging loosely around his neck from a likely long day of work. 

Mio smiled at Taro, her bright blue eyes glistening with affection. 

"Welcome home, dear!" she greeted.

Taro smiled as he finished removing his shoes and setting them by the door. 

"Hey, mom! Hey, dad! Where's Hanako?" 

"She's out for a karaoke night with her classmates," Mio replied as she took his schoolbag from him. "More importantly, you seem like you're in a good mood. Make any new friends today?" 

Mio was pleasantly surprised to see Taro beam at her when the question was asked. 

"Actually, yes! These three girls came up to me and wanted to be friends." 

Youta chuckled, holding up a thumbs up. "Couldn't limit yourself to one girl, huh? I'm proud of you son!" 

A blush came to Taro's cheeks. "Dad!" 

"I'm just saying! I expect a girlfriend to be brought home this year. You're a pretty handsome boy, and yet even a dork like me managed to score your mother by my second year!" 

He was stopped from going any further by Mio giving him a smack to the head. She shot a look at him, hand still raised from the follow through of the hit, with the corner of her smile twitching in annoyance. 

"That's enough from you, _honey_ " she said, the annoyance bleeding over into her tone before immediately going back to cheerful as she turned to Taro. 

"Well, we should have them over for dinner! I already can't wait to meet them!" 

"I think that you'll like them, mom! Though Elegy is a bit reserved, her, Ayano and Rika do really seem like nice girls!” 

* * *

All three girls sneezed simultaneously, stopping them in their activity. 

"What was that?" Elegy sniffed.

Rika rubbed at her nose to rid herself of the tingling sensation. "Someone must be talking about us." She shook her head to regather her bearings. "Anyway, this is where you want to stab for the least amount of blood flow, sis." 


End file.
